Days of Wine and Yoga

A war has broken out in the American yoga community among the purists, the peckish, and the profit margin.

Julia Moskin writes about it in the NYTimes - "When Chocolate and Chakras Collide" - January26/10.

The traditionalists believe that the goal of yoga should be largely philosophic and spiritual, with  practice that leads to the purification of the body and mind, and hence to unity. Bacon, burgers, and Brie en croute are not on the purists list as acceptable ingredients for the good yogic life.

The peckish like their meat and their wine and argue that the traditionalists are judgemental. The peckish also, like all good interpreters of scripture, find justification for their choices in various texts from the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainist canons.

For some, though, the profit margin is paramount, and they have seen an opportunity to offer innovative yoga with music, wine, and gourmet food - all from the convenience of one's yoga mat in a class of other like-minded yo-gourmets.

The tempest arising from these conflicting views about the proper approach and attitude to yoga seems to exist only in a tea pot, or wine glass, as the case may be.

Yoga has been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, and will likely suffer in no way from adoption by yet another group of practioners with a different perspective. Yoga has already survived, either because or in spite of, the different paths along which its adherents have taken it.

In North America, especially, yoga has a checkered history. In the seventies, anyone who practiced was suspect - flaky at least, subversive of good honest religion at worst. Religious groups were particularly vigilant in overseeing such an exotic practice from The East.

 I say, to each his own. It seems so odd to have such arguments over the choice to have cheese with the Downward Dog or not. (Would that be a cheese dog?) I guess our egos can make an argument about anything - rather counterproductive for the yogi, one would think.

The solution is easy. Purists will follow traditional practices and get what they want from that. The peckish will have their days of wine and yoga and heightened gustatory experience. The profit margin will blossom.

So everyone should take a deep Alternating Breath and just relax.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Grandmother

As Christmas approaches, it is good to remember that many traditions have paths to salvation and healing. Some have come together in the form of a council called the International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers.

The grandmothers' council began  in 2004 and continues to raise awareness and hope : 

Through the years, they've become teachers and icons who are galvanizing and uniting a rapidly emerging global movement. They are awakening people to the urgent need for change if we are to survive on this planet. But they are not using fear as a weapon. They are offering us hope. What many people see as a threat, they see as an opportunity. They show us that by going back to the ancient and time-proven earth-based traditions and practices of our Indigenous people, we will be able to break away from our destructive habits and make the changes necessary for our survival. (Read more here.)

Alison Rose Levy in The Huffington Post, Dec 12/09- "A Meeting of the Hearts: the Dalai Lama and the Thirteen Grandmothers," - writes :     "They have circled the globe, meeting with the Dalai Lama, leading healing ceremonies and prayer circles in India, Nepal, the Amazon, Alaska, Mexico, and Nicaragua."

Levy goes on to quote one of the grandmothers:

"Together, the grandmothers have almost nine hundred years of experience," said Flordemayo a Mayan healer from Nicaragua, "We are thirteen voices strong to remind humanity that we must unite to move into this new millennium. We're in the process of birthing a new way of being, a new way for all of us to be gentle with each other. We should connect our hearts and become one."

All of the grandmothers believe that greed is the root cause of all our ills, causing humans pain and the earth and its creature dire consequences. The grandmothers have joined voices and knowledge to help all people heal both themselves and Mother Earth.

The grandmothers are:

(The two flags are just a sampling of those connected to the grandmothers.)
                                                                                                                                           ( Lakota flag)

Aama Bombo, Tamang, Nepal

Agnes Baker Pilgrim, Tekelma Siletz, Oregon USA

Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance, Oglala Lakota, SD

Bernadette Rebienot, Omyene Gabon, Africa
Clara Shinobu Iura, Mapia Amazonia, Brazil                                        
Flordemayo, Mayan, Nicaragua
Julieta Casimiro, Mazatec, Mexico                                                                            (flag of Nepal)
Maria Alice Campos Friere, Mapia Amazonia, Brazil

Margaret Behan, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Montana
Mona Polacca, Hopi/Havasupai?Tewa Arizona
Rita Pitka Blumenstein, Yupik, Alaska
Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance. Oglala Lakota, SD
Tsering Golma Gyaltong, Tibetan, Canada

Pictures and bios of the grandmothers are here.

For the Next 7 Generations is a movie about the grandmothers by filmmaker Carole Hart. She felt compelled to make the film because she was healed of terminal brain cancer by elders in an indigenous healing ceremony. The film's website has a wealth of information about the grandmothers,  their coming together in 2004, and the making of the film.

 

For The Next 7 Generations Trailer from Laughing Willow on Vimeo.

We need the grandmothers, their vision, and their action, now more than ever.